The present invention relates to medical methods of treatment. More particularly, it is concerned with a method of treating fungal infections in a mammal employing certain substituted-4-[6-(tetrahydro-4-hydroxy-2-oxo-2H-pyran-2-yl)ethyl]- and -ethenyl]pyrazoles and the corresponding ring-opened .beta.,.delta.-dihydroxy-heptanoic and heptenoic acids derived therefrom.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,613,610 to Wareing discloses certain substituted (6-tetrahydro-4-hydroxy-2-oxo-2H-pyran-2-yl)alkyl]pyrazoles and their use as agents for inhibiting cholesterol biosynthesis and lowering blood cholesterol levels.
The past decade has been quite productive in the discovery of new antibacterial agents. Most of the new agents have been parenteral agents, with the improved activity primarily in the gram-negative component of the antibacterial spectrum.
However, there has not been corresponding development in the area of antifungal agents. The increasing efficacy and potency of antibacterial therapy seems to have created an ecologic niche that has been filled by superinfecting fungal pathogens. Yet, no new types of antifungal agents have appeared which offer promise in the treatment of the important systemicmycoses which occur in immunosuppressed hosts.
A number of potent antimicrobial compounds are available for the treatment of acute disease, but therapy for chronic infections is often frustrating. The development of antibacterial compounds that could be safely administered via the oral route for a long period (as in an outpatient setting) might make a major difference in the management of these chronic infections. Oral medications active against staphylococci, gram-negative rods, and fungi would make it possible for patients to be discharged earlier, or even to be managed without hospitalization.